Placement Scores

Mathematics

All H&S students take the math placement exam. Why?

• to determine appropriate placement for enrollment in math courses
• to meet the foundational mathematics component of the General Education requirement (must have a score of 3, 2, or 1)

Writing

All students must take an academic writing course and be deemed effective writers* as part of the General Education requirement. The Writing Department determines students’ writing placements into the appropriate writing courses.

*Exception: Students who scored a 4 or 5 on their English AP exam and a 1 or 2 on the Ithaca College writing placement exam are considered to have met their general education effective writer requirement. As students do not take a writing placement during Orientation, you should consult with your adviser regarding the next steps of this process if you have the appropriate AP scores and are interested in obtaining course specific writing credits.

Languages

Language exams are used primarily to place students in the appropriate level language courses.

• If you want to continue with a language you studied in high school, you must take the placement exam for the specific language to determine your language placement score.
• If you studied a language for three or more years, you may not take a 10100 language course even if your placement is 10100. In this situation, you will register for 10400 (Spanish) or 10200 (all other languages).
• If you have no prior academic experience with a language, you will register for a 10100 course.
• If you want to use your language placement to meet a proficiency requirement, you will have to take an on-campus exam in the Language Center located in 316 Gannett Center, 607-274-3295. You must call this office to set up a time to take the French, Spanish or German language exams on campus. Consult with your adviser about the distinction between language placement and language proficiency.

What is the distinction between the use of language exams score for placement or proficiency?

• Language placement: The language exam score is used to place students in the appropriate level language course.
• Language proficiency: Some majors at the College specifically require that students ‘complete a foreign language through the intermediate level or demonstrate equivalent proficiency.’ Students may not use their on-line language placement score to demonstrate proficiency.*

*For example, if a student earns a language placement score of Spanish 32200 on the on-line Spanish exam, s/he has placed in a level of Spanish above the intermediate level. Because Spanish was an on-line placement exam, the student must take an on-campus exam to demonstrate proficiency in order to use it to fulfill his/her foreign language proficiency requirement given the appropriate score is earned on the on-campus exam.